


painting greys

by confinesofpersonalknowledge



Series: bad things happen bingo [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Amnesia, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Needs a Hug, Everyone Needs A Hug, He's kinda leaning towards villanous but like, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Manipulative Deceit | Janus Sanders, Mildly Dubious Consent, Morally Neutral Deceit | Janus Sanders, Non-Graphic Violence, Someone give them a hug, Unreliable Narrator, Villain Deceit | Janus Sanders, he has intentions that aren't specifically bad, hes bad at showing it, its not as bad as the tags make it out to seem, janus does genuinely care for roman, roman and janus are dating but its kind of weird, uhh how do i tag, why is tagging hard, wow thats a tag okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25075363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/confinesofpersonalknowledge/pseuds/confinesofpersonalknowledge
Summary: Roman trusts Janus. Janus is kind, and he knows exactly what Roman needs. Janus knows best, always. He's Roman cornerstone, base number one, trust implicitly. Roman doesn't know where he would be without Janus. Janus says not to think too much about it.Roman doesn't have to think much. Janus wants something that Roman wants - and Roman trusts Janus.Everything is (not) fine.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders
Series: bad things happen bingo [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716004
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	painting greys

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends/gifts).



> So this is my next bad things happen bingo!! I was given the prompt of "Faux-Affectionate Villain with villain!Deceit and hero!Roman? (can be canonverse or au, totally up to you!)" and I hope I did it justice!!

Janus is… kind, in his own way. Roman knows this, because he knows Janus’s kindness - he’s almost always the one to defuse Roman after stressful days and long fights. Janus has been a silent constant in Roman’s life for as long as Roman can remember, even if Patton does tend to prefer that Roman doesn’t think about those times.

Roman doesn’t think it’s out of any malicious harm, the things Janus does. He doesn’t think that the other Hero means anything… he’s only trying to help Roman. To improve Roman. Or at least, that is what he says; over and over, each time Janus has to visit Roman to fix one of Roman’s stupid mistakes again.

And the worst part is, Roman can’t seem to stop making mistakes. Some days, it’s just small mistakes - messing up Janus’s coffee order, or getting into another fight with one of Janus’s sidekicks. The other Hero seems to cycle through them like they were flies, one dropping in a fight only to be replaced the next day. It kind of disturbed Roman when he thought about it, so he tried very hard not to think about it. Things didn’t have to be real unless Roman thought they were. It was what Janus always said.

Janus had a few simple rules - the main one of those being to never go into the basement alone. It wasn’t a hard rule to follow, after all, Roman didn’t want to know much about the basement. Thinking about the basement made Roman’s head hurt, as if there was some memory buried deep inside of Roman’s head trying to wiggle free except it was stuck where it was. It made Roman’s entire body ache when he thought about it too much - made him freeze up, as if expecting a blow any second now. 

So, yeah. Roman didn’t think much about the basement.

But sometimes the basement haunted him. Sometimes there were screams that came from it, echoing through the Heroes’ Compound. Sometimes there were other noises, wet and gross, or sharp and loud, and those noises made Roman’s stomach curl, made Roman want to curl up under his bed. And sometimes, the worst of times were when there was silence and Roman knew someone was down there. Everyone knew what that meant, of course. Janus didn’t kill, no, but he didn’t stop at any boundaries when it meant getting the answers he needed.

Everyone knew what it meant when Janus got someone to stop screaming. They called him Insidious for a reason, after all. Janus had a way of getting into your head, knowing your every thought, finding every hidden secret and drawing it out into the open as if it weren’t ever hidden away in the first place. Janus could pry open a person, leave them bare and open in the dim light of the dun- basement, and you wouldn’t even know.

They called it an initiation ritual, when Roman joined the Heroes. Roman didn’t know what to call it. So Roman didn’t. Nothing existed until Roman thought it did, anyway. Nothing existed unless Roman wanted it to exist. And sure, sometimes Janus hurt Roman… but that was only when Roman thought it to be. Only when Roman made a mistake and knew that he should be punished.

Roman didn’t think about punishments a lot. They stayed tucked away in the same place as the memories of the basement and the screaming and the silence. They were better off there - Roman didn’t need those memories. Roman didn’t want those memories. Everything was so much easier when there weren’t any of those memories there. 

Roman was waiting for Janus, when he emerged from the basement. They’d gotten intel on the Duke, Logic and Morality, who seemed to be closing in on their location. Roman had warned Janus when he’d stolen Anxiety from a fight - had told Janus that there wasn’t any way that the other three villains weren’t coming for their fallen companion. Roman didn’t know why there was a part of him that twinged when he thought about it. He didn’t care what the villains did, all he wanted was for them to leave him alone. Or at least, that was what Roman told himself.

Tell yourself something enough times, and it’ll be true, right?

Right. 

And that was why Roman told himself, again, that he didn’t care that the other three were coming for Anxiety. Let them have the emo nightmare, anyway. Roman didn’t know why Janus was so obsessed with him. 

They were all on the same side, anyway. All they wanted, heroes or no, was for the city to recognize them - recognize people with powers and give them the same rights as those without. Janus said that they needed to show the people what happened when they didn’t. He said that they needed to show the people just what they could do for them, just how they could keep them safe. Janus always knew best.

So yes, Roman was waiting for Janus, holding the patchwork jacket Anxiety had been wearing when Janus dragged him in, spitting and screaming curses. Anxiety had fallen silent when he saw Roman, the blood draining out of his face faster than Roman had thought was humanly possible, or even safe. Janus had paused, long enough that Anxiety could see Roman… and then grinned, that sharp grin of his that made something inside of Roman shudder. And Roman hadn’t seen Anxiety again. 

“They’re almost here, you know. The villains - they want Anxiety back.” It was the first thing Roman said when Janus emerged from the basement, pulling off the yellow gloves he always wore when he was down there. 

Janus looked startled and then annoyed, sighing. “Let them come. I have a surprise for them, anyway. I know just what to do… so they’ll stop fighting us.” There was a gleam in Janus’s eyes when he looked at Roman, a hint of something that was a mix between satisfied and sad. Roman had asked about it before, but Janus always said he didn’t know what Roman was talking about. Roman stopped asking after a while.

Roman shrugged. “I don’t know if our compound can handle all three of them, though. They’re pretty powerful.” He tilted his head at Janus. “Are you sure we can handle this?”

Janus hummed, stepping closer to Roman, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling Roman close. “They won’t do anything, Roman. Let them come. Once they see my surprise,” Janus lifted Roman’s chin, meeting Roman’s eyes. Roman’s head swam suddenly as he blinked, trying to regain his clarity. “Once they see what I have… they’ll listen. They’ll listen. Just trust me, okay?”

Roman smiled a bit. “It’s the easiest thing you’ve ever asked me to do, love.” 

Janus smiled again, that same sharp little smile, eyes cold. “Good.” He leaned down and kissed Roman, possessively holding him close. “How about some dinner, my jaan?” He hummed softly. Roman just perked up, excited.

Janus was kind, after all. He just wanted things to be better. And he’d do anything to make sure things got better. Roman knew better than to question Janus.

Janus knew best.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm taking requests!! I've pinned the bingo card to my tumblr!! Send me a request if you'd like!!  
> https://confinesofpersonalknowledge.tumblr.com/


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